Pierre Rainville explains the perception of pain and describes the impact of psychology on this perception.
In a recent article, Pierre Rainville, Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at the Université de Montréal, Director of the Neuro-Psycho-Physiology of Pain Laboratory (LaNeP3) at CRIUGM and member of the QPRN, explains how pain perception works. He also explains that pain perception is different for everyone, and that several angles are needed to understand it, including psychology. In his work, he is particularly interested in the biological expression of psychological factors (emotions, fears, expectations, etc.) in the brain’s management of the pain message. He is also interested in interventions that can influence the brain’s perception of pain, such as meditation. His recent research on the impact of psychological factors on pain is aimed at understanding why some patients with Parkinson’s disease are more at risk than others of developing chronic pain in addition to their motor problems. His research findings demonstrate the impact of psychology on pain, and underline the important role a psychologist can play in pain management.
